


1919

by xslytherclawx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Canon-Typical Violence (mentioned), Harry Potter Rare Pair Bingo: Wildcard, M/M, Mild Gore, Pre-Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Regulus Black Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: Regulus knows one thing: when you’re certain you’re dying, lungs filling with water and inferi clawing desperately at your skin, you learn that you’re a little less willing to take things for granted.Like the magic that courses through your veins and spares you at the last moment.
Relationships: Regulus Black/Newt Scamander
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42
Collections: Harry Potter Rare Pair Bingo Wildcards!





	1919

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Esbion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esbion/gifts).



> This was a prize for Bree (teamedwardlupin) for winning round two of HP Rare Pair Bingo. I have Bree's permission to post this as a gift, and I hope y'all enjoy it.  
> while this is not actually my 200th fic, it is my 200th public fic, so that's something to celebrate!

Regulus knows one thing: when you’re certain you’re dying, lungs filling with water and inferi clawing desperately at your skin, you learn that you’re a little less willing to take things for granted.

Like the magic that courses through your veins and spares you at the last moment.

Accidental magic.

The sort children do; the sort he’d thought he’d outgrown.

Of course, he also materialises into the freezing night air, coughing up water, bleeding profusely, with no wand and no way to seek help.

Someone finds him anyway.

A wizard he’s never met before, though he can’t summon up the energy to pay much attention to his appearance.

“Merlin’s beard, what’s happened to you?”

Regulus can’t speak. He’s too busy coughing up water.

But then he feels the water clear from his lungs as the wizard casts some charm. 

“Drowned,” Regulus says when he can. He shakes his head. That sounds mental. “Was drowning. Accidental magic.”

“Were you attacked?”

“Yes,” Regulus manages. 

The wizard nods. “Right, then. Let’s get you inside.”

_ Inside _ turns out to be a tent. Where the hell are they? Regulus doesn’t know, but he’s not present enough to sort it out. Has he lost a lot of blood? He feels like he might have.

The wizard helps him onto a sofa, and runs off. Regulus can hear him rummaging through something. “Just a moment. I’m quite well-stocked. I’ve got to be, you see. I work with Creatures.”

The next thing Regulus is aware of is  _ burning. _

“Sorry,” the wizard says. “It’s going to sting a bit.”

It stings a  _ lot. _ It might well be worse than the actual inferi. But eventually, it’s over, and the wizard leaves Regulus to breathe.

He doesn’t go far. Regulus is peripherally aware of that. Then he’s holding a potion out to Regulus. “This should help with the pain.”

What else can Regulus do but drink it? He weighs his options quickly: if he refuses, he’ll be in pain. If he accepts, he could die. 

But he’s drank much more vile potions tonight.

He drinks this one, too.

It works.

He can feel it in waves. The relief. The thing about pain is you can become accustomed to it. It can, to a certain extent, fade into the background.

The relief is so intense he nearly cries.

“I’m no Healer,” the wizard says. “And I really – I’ve got the basics of Healing down, because I’ve got to, but I can’t… I can’t guarantee you that it’ll look nice.”

“I’m  _ not _ going to Saint Mungos.”

The wizard frowns. “Saint Mungos? Why would I ever take you all the way to London? The closest hospital is in Melbourne.”

What? Is he seriously in  _ Australia? _ “I was in England. It shouldn’t be possible to apparate that far – accidental magic or not.”

“Wizards are capable of truly remarkable things when pushed to our limits. You’d be surprised what I’ve seen.”

“What’s your name?” Regulus asks. He’s  _ in this wizard’s tent _ without even knowing who he is. What an absurd risk!

“Oh. Sorry. Newt Scamander.”

That must be a mistake. The wizard in front of him is about his age, possibly a few years older. Regulus knows Newt Scamander – or at least knows of him. He took Care of Magical Creatures, after all. Newt Scamander is old – in his eighties, probably.

Regulus has always been clever. He pieced together that the Dark Lord was using Horcruxes. He can piece this together, too.

“What year is it?”

Newt evidently does not think that’s too bizarre a question, because he tells him, without taking a beat, that it’s 1919.

Regulus has somehow transported himself sixty years into the past.

It’s then that Regulus notices it, when he chances a glance down: his Dark Mark is gone.

The inferi must have ripped it clean off.

The wound underneath is ugly and arguably more disgusting, but the brand is gone. The Mark is gone and he doesn’t even need to hide it. The Dark Lord hasn’t even been born yet.

He could stop it.

But then… would someone else – someone possibly even worse – not just take his place?

There’s no way to be sure.

* * *

Regulus adjusts. Newt does what he can to help heal his injuries, but he is left with some nasty scars. Perhaps someday he might be able to fix them. For now… he’s simply (selfishly, arrogantly) grateful that the inferi did not claw his face. Only his arms and legs and chest and back. Only that.

They fall into an easy pattern.

Newt is out on an expedition, Regulus learns. Cataloguing magical creatures, after his success with the Ukrainian Ironbellies on the Eastern Front, to show Wizarding society that creatures deserve respect and compassion – and how to go about treating them that way.

Regulus is careful not to let his apparent expertise slip; he wasn’t the best student in his class, not when it came to practical applications of creatures, but he still knows things he shouldn’t in 1919.

So he stays inside most of the time, recovering. He cooks (Newt doesn’t eat meat, which provides some challenges – especially since Regulus never learned to cook before) and cleans and supports on some missions but not all.

After a month, Newt prepares to go home.

Regulus has been trying not to think about what that means.

He could make a life for himself here. He’s a decent Wizard, and the chances of being caught out are slim.

He knows staying is the smart option.

But Newt asks him to come with him. To London. 

_ Live _ with him.

Regulus accepts.

* * *

He isn’t surprised when Newt kisses him. Unlike him, Newt doesn’t seem as if he’s ever put much stock in what other people think of him. What he  _ should _ do.

They’ve been living together for four months.

Regulus has noticed him staring. He’s noticed the lingering touches. The hesitation.

He kisses him back.

**Author's Note:**

> come visit me on [tumblr](https://xslytherclawx.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Please feel free to join my Harry Potter [discord server](https://discord.gg/yb6bS3c)!


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